Great Books Thread (page 9)

serendipity

I don't know that I could only pick 5...

1. The Bible - influenced my values and life choices :-)
2. The WTS publications (for better or worse) - influenced my values and life choices :-(
3. As a girl, Nancy Drew Mysteries which featured a strong, resourceful, intelligent female character who helped me to aspire to more in life than my JW upbringing would suggest.
4. As a girl, Biographies of Madame Curie and Eleanor Roosevelt - strong, intelligent women with purposes who didn't let social constraints hold them back *much*.
5. 'Feeling Good' by Dr. David Burns - helped me realize my thoughts were making me miserable.
6. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl - though I couldn't always control the events in my life, I could control my reactions to them.
7. John Bradshaw 'On the Family' and 'Healing the Shame that Binds You" for helping me to see the cycle of abuse in my family's history, helping me break the cycle of abuse while raising my daughter and for helping me to empathize with my parents, facilitating forgiveness.
8. "The 5 Love Languages" - for helping me to realize what was missing in previous relationships and giving me tools to make the next one more successful and hopefully last.
9. Anything by Bill Bryson, who's probably my favorite travel writer.
10. Anything by Alexander McCall Smith who's dryly humorous, gentle, good-natured poking at human nature has enticed me to start reading fiction again regularly.

Open mind

Great list and explanations Serendipity.

I was just thinking of books in the shower this morning and forgot a nice piece of fiction that really kept the pages turning for me: Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice.

That book was a great little brain trip for me. I've never seen the movie and don't care to.

I then read The Vampire Lestat which I also liked, but after that, I stopped being a big Anne Rice fan.

But, who knows, my head has spun around a few times in the last 6 months or so, maybe it's time to revisit some of her work.

Anybody else enjoy "Interview" or "Lestat"?

Open Mind

nvrgnbk

"Lestat"?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

that's from satan op!

nvrgnbk

I'm liking this right now, about half way through it:

Open mind

Nvr:

Thanks for that recommendation. It looks like something I could actually have laying around my dub house without getting in "aposta-trouble". At the same time, it probably contains some info that might be able to rock a dub's world (a little). That's always a plus for me.

Open Mind

"BadAttitude"Ex-Bethelite

Okay, I've been skulking and lurking about for a couple of months. It's finally time to take the plunge and say something. This good-book thread looks like a pretty nonthreatening place to start. The ones I'm listing here are those that have helped me in my journey out of the tower into the light. Anne Rice - Memnoch the Devil. This one turns the whole idea of Biblical good and evil on its head. Eric Hoffer - The True Believer. Shows that mind control and blind faith are more about the personality type than about the actual doctrine proferred. Elaine Pagels - Adam, Eve and the Serpent. By a professor of theology, this one shows how Christianity's ideas of good and bad, especially around sex, came to be formed. Shows how (Saint) Augustine, a sex addict felt guilty and caused Christianity to view the human condition as mostly sinful and corrupt, needing redemption and correction, and how he won out against the other faction who viewed people as basically good. Alfred J. Ayers - Language, Truth and Logic (1946 edition). After 2 years of "dangerous worldly" philosophy classes in college, this guy finally made more sense to me than anyone. His philosophy, called "logical positivism," keeps things really simple, and doesn't lose me in the clouds like some philosophers, or piss me off with hard-and-fast rules like some others. Alice Walker - The Color Purple. The struggle to escape from oppression as a woman and as a black held many parallels for me in my escape from JW oppression. Andrew Tobias - The Best Little Boy in the World. This guy did what I did - tried to be perfect in every other way, since he felt himself basically flawed due to being gay. Leroy Aarons - Prayers for Bobby: A Mother's Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son. Even if I weren't gay, it is fascinating to get inside this amazing woman's head as she goes from rabid fundamentalist to raving pro-humanist while coming to terms with how a god could create a beautiful son and then allow him to kill himself. I dare anyone to read this one without crying! Finally, on a lighter note: Sam McBratney - Guess How Much I Love You. This is supposed to be a cute children's book. But the delightful drawings of the Little and Big Nut Brown Hares are irresistible, and their sweet lines like "I love you right up to the moon and back" can't help but bring a smile to your face. Peace out.

nvrgnbk

Glad to have you here BAXB!

So tell me, does your bad attitude extend to paragraphs as well? LOL!

Sorry, just one ex-Bethelite busting on another.

Great Books Thread

serendipity

Open mind

nvrgnbk

nvrgnbk

Open mind

"BadAttitude"Ex-Bethelite

nvrgnbk

Open mind

jeanV

John Doe

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